New Year’s message from ITU Secretary-General“The path towards a safer, more sustainable,
and better-connected digital future for all”
Houlin Zhao

Secretary-General
International Telecommunication Union

Dear Friends of ITU in Japan,
The year behind us was particularly challenging
due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has cost
countless lives and placed enormous strain on socio-economic
conditions worldwide.
2020 was also a year where information and communication
technologies (ICTs) took centre stage. I have seen first-hand
how central ICTs were to the important discussions that havetaken place in the last several months, be it at the 75th session of
the United Nations General Assembly, at the G20 meetings ofICT, finance and health ministers or at the Ministerial Council
Meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation andDevelopment (OECD).
The new circumstances brought about by COVID-19
have dramatically illustrated the vital importance of ICTs andbroadband connectivity for societies and economies everywhere.
But the pandemic has also revealed stark inequalities in accessto ICTs, reminding us of the digital divide that still prevents 3.6
billion people around the world from benefiting from the digitaltechnologies and services that have proved so essential during thepandemic.
Now more than ever, ICTs are key to achieving the UN
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and tackling the world’s
most pressing challenges, including COVID-19. And Japan has aprominent role to play in this effort.
I commend the Ministr y of Internal Affairs andCommunications of Japan for its suppor t of IT U ’s
Connect2Recover initiative, which helps countries recoverfrom COVID-19 by expanding access to affordable and reliable
connectivity, with an initial focus on hard-hit and least wellconnected African countries.
Japan has been a member of ITU for more than 140 years
and has been elected to the ITU Council on every occasion since1959. We at ITU are grateful for Japan’s active participation in
our activities, from harmonizing the use of the radio-frequency
spectrum and satellite orbits to developing international standards
enabling next-generation technologies to assisting developing
countries with infrastructure and policy development.
As we look to the year ahead of us, not only do we need to2New Breeze Winter 2021

connect the unconnected, but we also need to upgrade our services
with new technologies such as 5G, cloud computing, AI, andmany more.
Japan has long been a global source of ICT innovation anda leader in important and emerging areas of ITU’s work, fromspace to AI to 5G. I was pleased to see several operators launch 5G
services in Japan in 2020.
5G services will see the advent of new applications in areas asdiverse and promising as automated vehicles, telemedicine, smart
cities, and collaborative robotics, to name a few. Already during
COVID-19, we have seen innovative applications of 5G in fields
such as health, education, finance, and transportation.
In these critical and challenging times, Japan serves as an
example for other countries to follow.
I would like to thank the government of Japan for its role inthe development of ICTs and its significant financial support toITU. My thanks also go to the many Japanese companies that areSector Members of ITU, and to our Japanese Academia Members.
Both provide ITU with valuable technical expertise. And thankyou to the ITU Association of Japan for its continued support toour organization.
In 2021, Japan will host the Summer Olympic Games inTokyo. I am confident that these Games will showcase Japan’s
ICT innovation capabilities and will offer the world great hope forthe future.
In 2021, ITU will also convene its World Telecommunication
Development Conference for the first time on the African
continent in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. It will be the opportunity
to mobilize the global community around digital transformationin support of the SDGs.
With only 10 years left to achieve these goals and amidst an
unprecedented crisis, leveraging ICTs for inclusive development ismore important than ever before.
I call on all our Japanese Members and friends of ITU in
Japan to rise to the challenge and help us use this moment to build
a safer, more sustainable, and better-connected digital future forall.
I wish you all a healthy, peaceful, and happy 2021!